Blood Awakening (30 page)

“Lumina devine întuneric, şi întuneric
devine lumina.”

“Light shall become dark, and dark shall become
light.”

“Sigiliul de lumina se aplice la un suflet
torturat şi de suflet, au obligaţia de a respecta întuneric se
sigilează cu tortura.”

“The seal of the light shall affix to a tortured
soul, and the soul bound by darkness shall be sealed with torture.”

Nachari looked at Braden like he had been born on
another planet. “You were able to interpret all of that just by residing in my mind?”

Braden shrugged. “Yep. You’re not that hard to
read…
wizard
.”

Nachari chuckled, impressed. “Very well then,
explain to me how you came to your conclusion.”

Braden rubbed the peach fuzz on his chin as if he
was deep in thought, searching for the right words: “Well, for every Celestial
Being in the heavens—every god or goddess in the galaxy—there’s a dark shadow twin
in the Abyss, right? Down below in the Valley of Death and Shadows?”

Nachari nodded. “Yes, there is. A dark lord or
lady who can be called upon through the use of Black Magic, the shadow essence
or deity of the original god or goddess.”

“Right,” Braden said, “like when I was human, my
dad believed in heaven and hell; so it’s like, for every angel in heaven
there’s a matching demon in hell, only we’re dealing with gods and goddesses,
and the heavens are
literally
the heavens.”

Nachari shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. The
youngster beside him no longer sounded like a confused little boy. “Very well
said, Braden. Go on.”

“Well,
when the light god arises in the heavens
to call forth the Blood Moon
refers to one of the good celestial gods; in
this case, Draco, right? Since that’s the god of Marquis’s constellation?”

Nachari nodded.

“Okay, so Draco,
the light god
, calls
forth the Blood Moon
for Marquis to finally give him his woman: his
destiny
.”

“Go on.”

“
His shadow shall stir in the Abyss
just
means that Draco’s evil twin, down in the Valley of Death and Shadows, got all
stirred up when Draco started to make things happen for Marquis. Like it woke
him up or something.”

“Hmm,” Nachari said, “I think you might actually
have the gift of knowledge; you certainly have a talent for explaining things.”

The kid’s eyes positively beamed beneath his broad
smile, and he became even more energetic as he went forward with his theory. “Okay,
so Draco made the Blood Moon for Marquis—to show him his
destiny—
and his
evil twin in the Abyss sat up and started paying attention. Well,
should the
light and the dark be poured out together: blood tortured in innocence; sealed
through burnt offering
just means that if some assho—” He caught himself in
time. “Some
jerk,
like Salvatore, wanted to mess things up, then he
could do it as long as he used the right ingredients, sort-of-like making a
witches brew with the things connected to Marquis’s life:
blood tortured in
innocence
and
blood sealed through burnt offering
.”

Nachari winced and took a deep breath.

Braden looked away. “Do you want me to stop?”

Nachari shook his head. “No, Braden: I know where
you’re going with this, and it’s okay. I need to hear your theory.”

Braden frowned and nodded. “The
blood tortured
in innocence
was your twin’s—Shelby’s. Marquis’s little brother was
innocent, yet his blood was spilled through torture anyway.”

Nachari closed his eyes and concentrated on a
neutral image—the sunset—trying to shift his focus away from the picture the
young vampire had just painted. The truth hurt way too much, yet this was too
important to avoid. “Go on,” he muttered, his eyes blinking back open.

Braden swallowed. “Sorry.”

Nachari put his hand on his shoulder. “Go on.”

“The
blood sealed through burnt offering
was
the dude you and Marquis killed—Valentine.” He shrugged. “Sorry, I picked it
out of your mind when you were reading the stanza because you were thinking
about it. Wow, you guys messed him up bad and then left him to burn in the
sun...cool. Yeah, that’s definitely a
burnt
offering.”

Nachari shook his head, contemplating Salvatore’s
intelligence. The sorcerer could not have possibly known what they did to
Valentine at the time he crafted the spell. But apparently, he didn’t have to:
If he had divined even the hint of fire or smoke—Valentine’s last moments being
taken by the sun—it would have been enough to add to the curse. The thought
gave him chills. Salvatore was, indeed, a powerful adversary. “
Then the name
of the holy shall be reversed
means what to you?” Nachari asked, urging Braden
on.

“The reverse of the holy god, Draco, is Ocard—his
unholy, dark twin in the Abyss.”

Nachari held out his hand and placed it over
Braden’s heart. He spoke three quick incantations, and a flow of golden light
leapt from his fingertips into the boy’s chest, radiating outward in a seal of protection.
“Braden, you are correct. The reverse name of a god or goddess is the name of
their dark twin, but such names should never be spoken aloud. Speaking them
invokes them.”

Braden’s skin turned ghostly white, and his heart
began to race.

Nachari smiled reassuringly. “Do not worry; I have
placed you in a seal of protection that will remain until the energy of the
name you spoke is no longer drawn to you. If I would’ve known you had the
ability to discern all of this, I would’ve warned you ahead of time, but you’re
fine now. Trust me. Go on.”

Braden swallowed a huge lump in his throat and
eyed the white aura around him. “You sure?”

“I’m positive.”

Braden nodded slowly. “Okay.
So anyway, when the name of a god is reversed, then
light shall
become dark and dark shall become light
.”
He looked around the room
warily.

Nachari gripped his shoulder. “Braden,
you’re
fine
. Hey, think of it this way—you also invoked the name of Draco, right? The
good god. The powerful one.”

Braden nodded and looked up toward the sky. “Draco,
Draco, Draco,” he repeated quickly.

Nachari laughed. “There you go.”

Braden smiled, feeling instantly better. “Okay, so
if light is dark and dark is light, that just means that everything is reversed.
Everything is backward.”

“And
the
seal of the light shall affix
to a tortured soul
?”
Nachari asked.

 
“Well, the way my dad explained it, the male’s
constellation appears on the arm of his
destiny
at the same time the
Blood Moon is in the sky so that the male is absolutely sure he’s got the right
woman. ’Cause that would really suck...getting that wrong.”

“You’re not kidding,” Nachari agreed.

“And the woman is always within his sight at the time
it appears—no matter what.”

Nachari nodded. “That’s correct.”

“So if Marquis’s constellation is Draco, then
the
seal of the light
would be
the seal of Draco
—
the markings of Draco
on his woman’s arm.”

“I agree.”

Braden beamed with self-satisfaction. “I don’t
know the whole story about what happened the other night, but I do know what
torture is: hurting someone real bad to make them do or say what you want. Kristina’s
boyfriend beat her up a lot, didn’t he?”

Nachari nodded, solemn. “Yes, he did.”

“Well then, she was definitely a tortured soul,
and she was obviously in Marquis’s sight at the time of the Blood Moon. So the
seal of Draco was affixed to Kristina instead of Marquis’s real
destiny
.”

“And
the soul bound by darkness shall be sealed
with torture
?”

 “Well, I think the soul bound by darkness would
have to be Marquis’s real
destiny
because she was supposed to be bound
to him, bound by the light of Draco. Instead, she’s walking around in darkness,
and from what my dad said, being separated from one’s life mate—their true
destiny—is torture. They could even die. So if Salvatore switched it all up, his
true
destiny
would have to be hurting really bad.”

Nachari sank back into the sofa and crossed his
arms over his chest. “Yes, Braden, I believe she is.”

The kid cracked his knuckles then. “So, how did
Salvatore do it?”

Nachari shrugged his shoulders. Although he knew
exactly what Salvatore had done, there was no need to share such gruesome
details with the youngster. Salvatore had taken advantage of the spell the
moment he saw Marquis’s Blood Moon. He had probably read the stanza aloud three
times while offering a sacrifice to Ocard—more than likely the blood of some
innocent female whose throat he had slit.
Wow
. Well, no wonder things
had been so crazy lately.

Glancing at his young protégé, he couldn’t help
but feel an enormous sense of pride. How in the world had the kid deciphered so
much, so easily? He laughed aloud then, considering the
fellowship of
wizards
back in Romania. They had given him the kid as a test of patience, knowing
that he would come across as a bumbling young boy, awkward and insecure.

But the real test had been something altogether
different.

Braden Bratianu was a
seer
.

And a powerful one at that.

A natural who didn’t have a clue about the scope
of his abilities. He was a diamond in the rough, and the old guys had placed
him with Nachari to determine whether or not the wizard could see past the
clumsiness. Could Nachari see beyond all the theatrics, spiked hair, and
pouting, and still recognize the genius inside?

Amazing
: A lot of things were beginning to
make sense all of a sudden, and Nachari shuddered to think what could have
happened if Braden had not been feeding at his wrist at the precise moment Nachari
had been reading the dark book. But then again, wizards didn’t believe in coincidence.
The gods revealed what they wanted to reveal for a reason. In this case, not
just for Braden, but also for Marquis.

Nachari jumped up from the couch and headed toward
the stairs, his heart lighter than it had been in days.

“Where are you going?” Braden asked.

“To the roof, my friend. To check my telescopes.”

Braden raised his eyebrows in question, his body
quivering with excitement.

“Now that we know,” Nachari explained, “it should
be right there in the sky—as plain as day.”

“What should?”

“Draco
reversed
. The other night, I noticed
that the tip of the constellation was in the wrong position, pointing to the
place where we would find Ciopori, but I never bothered to measure
all
of
our Lord’s stars. At the time, Draco just looked like Draco—still intact. But
what do you bet, our dragon lord was reversed?”

Braden’s eyes grew to the size of quarters. “Can I
come?” He quickly looked away, trying to appear cool, afraid to sound too eager.

Nachari regarded the young seer appreciatively,
his wisdom well beyond his years.

“Absolutely, Braden.
Absolutely
.”

Marquis was sitting on the bank of the river, just
beyond his back porch, when he heard Kristina approach from behind, her soft
footsteps padding quietly along the deck. As he turned to watch her approach,
he assessed her color and the fluid way she moved. It had been mere hours since
he had fed her at Napolean’s manse, yet she was already healed.

“How are you feeling?”

Kristina shrugged. “All right, I guess.”

Marquis recognized the long, heavy robe she was
wearing, dark blue, swallowing her frame whole—it was his. He made a mental
note that he would have to do something about it immediately, either take her
shopping or stop by her apartment to retrieve the remainder of her things. So
much had happened in such a short time, he hadn’t had an opportunity to
properly attend to his
destiny
. Like it or not, that had to change.

“So, whatcha doing?” she asked, looking around and
scrunching up her face as if she couldn’t figure out why in the world anyone
would sit on the bank of a river.

Marquis sighed. “You should be sleeping.”

Kristina frowned. “So should you.”

“Is the guest room not comfortable?”

She shrugged once again, her bouncy red hair
falling slightly forward from the motion. “It’s cool, I guess. You know, kind
of uptight for my taste, but then considering the source...” She stopped her own
ranting. “Sorry.”

Marquis just shook his head. “I didn’t know rooms
could be uptight.” He quickly waved his hand to dismiss the comment before a
sparring-match ensued. He was exhausted and not at all in the mood for
twelve-rounds with Kristina. Ciopori’s earlier rescue had disrupted his normal
daytime sleep-schedule, and it was much too late to go to bed now. He knew if
he slept through the night, it would just make things worse—kind of a hazard of
being a nocturnal creature.

“So...” Kristina shrugged and clutched her arms to
her stomach. She took a deep breath, held it, and then exhaled slowly. “So...you
wanna do it, or what?”

Marquis shut his eyes.

“Well?” she asked.

“Do what, Kristina?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what. Do
it
.”

Marquis fought not to blanch.
Do it? Gods, what
had been his crime? And was there no other worthy penance?
He raised his
head to meet her eyes just to see if she was serious.

Apparently, she was.

He was just about to give her a tongue-lashing when
he thought better of it, curiosity getting the best of him. “Why the sudden
change of heart?”

Kristina plopped down beside him, nearly tripping
on the long hem of the robe. Her dainty arms disappeared in the sleeves as if
she had none. She blew a piece of curly hair away from her eyes and sighed. “The
way I figure it, we should just go ahead and do it like normal people, and the
sooner we get it over with the better.”

Marquis resisted the urge to get up and walk away.
“And why would that be?”

“Lots of reasons.” She forced a missing arm down
through a massive sleeve and began to chew nervously on her fingernail. “First
of all, you promised me my own pink Corvette, clothes, jewelry, an iPod. And
I’m pretty sure you’re not gonna let me out of this house until everything’s
squared away and you’re safe—you know, from the whole curse thing. So, a month
being cooped up? Yeah, that doesn’t really do it for me. Plus, it’s not like I
have to feel anything, I mean, in terms of the pregnancy and birth, right? You
can put me to sleep or in some kind of trance, can’t you?”

Marquis considered it a rhetorical question. He’d
like to put her to sleep for the next century.

“And you promised a full-time nanny, so I don’t
really have to bother with the kid, either, right?”

Marquis grunted, nodding his head.

“Well, then why make ourselves crazy and sick
thinking about it for the next however many days, when we can just get it
behind us and go on with our lives? Honestly, boss, I’d rather get it over with…if
you don’t mind. And you know, if you wanna use that mind control stuff to make
it easier, that’s cool. It’s only one time; we’re both adults. And you’re
obviously not letting me go—”  She bit her tongue to stop her rambling.

Marquis ran his hands through his thick dark hair
and wished he could be anywhere but where he was. “Well, that was certainly the
most passionate seduction I’ve ever encountered.”

“
Ha. Ha
.”
She rolled her eyes.

“Kristina...” He spoke slowly. “I am sure you are
right: If we forego invitro, then eventually, it will probably come down to just
that. But as for tonight, I’m just not ready to go forward like this. Forgive
me if I need a little more time to adjust to the
inevitability
of our
situation.”

Kristina looked surprised and mildly offended. “You
don’t want me, do you?” She turned away.

Marquis’s head snapped to the side. What in all of
creation did that have to do with anything? He was at a complete loss for words.

“Yeah,” she whispered, “that’s what I thought. It’s
cool. I understand.”

Marquis cleared his throat. “Kristina, you have made
it crystal clear that you would rather slide down a razor-blade into a tub of
alcohol than be with me—that you despise me and this whole situation. And I
can’t blame you. No, I don’t spend my nights pining away for you, if that’s
what you’re asking.” He tossed a rock into the river and watched it skip in
perfect increments all the way to the other side. “What is it that you want
from me this night, Kristina?”

Kristina stared down at the ground. A single tear
crystallized in her eye, and she quickly brushed it away. “Look,” she said
softly, “I know this whole thing has been totally whack. And the thing with
Dirk”—she held back her sniffles—“shit, Marquis, that was so messed up, how you
killed him right in the front yard as if he was nothing—as if I’d never even loved
him or known him.”

Marquis stared at her intently. “He was dragging
my mate across the front lawn
by her hair
…and
threatening to kill
us both. If I had been a mere human, I would have killed the man for the insult.
But being a vampire
and
a warrior? Be realistic, Kristina—” 

“I know. I know.” She held up her hand. “Let’s not
go there again.
I know!
”

They sat in silence for what seemed like forever
before she tried her own hand at skipping a rock, only to watch it sink like a
cement block the moment it hit the water. “So much for increased power and
skill.” She scowled.

Marquis frowned. He picked up a smooth rock and
placed it in her palm. Holding his much larger hand over hers, he drew back and
demonstrated the smooth, forward motion of a throw several times in a row,
working her arm in a soft, easy glide. On the last repetition, he let go, and
the rock flew out of her hand, skimming across the top of the water.

Kristina threw back her head and laughed. She
picked up a pair of rocks and tried again. The first one started to bounce but
quickly sank. She looked back at him with interest.

Marquis demonstrated the smooth, easy toss again
with his own arm, only this time, she watched carefully, imitating the movement
on her own. And then she threw the second rock, skipping it all the way across
the river.

“Did you see that!” She began searching the ground
for more stones.

The corner of Marquis’s mouth turned up, but it
wasn’t really a smile—perhaps a step in the right direction. Kristina was like
a child. And being mated to her was going to be like raising one: a one-sided
deal. If he was being honest, she reminded him a lot of Braden Bratianu,
Nachari’s young charge, just a little bit older and a lot more cynical. Hardened.

“Listen,” she said as she continued to toss stones
across the river, some skipping, some sinking, and some ricocheting off  larger
rocks, “I know that Dirk was bad, and I should’ve left him a long time ago. And
I know that none of you guys were gonna let that go on forever, but I just
wasn’t ready...and especially not for all this.” She swept her arm around the
two of them, gesturing next toward the property and the house. “And I know that
he would’ve killed me, that you saved my life the other night, even if you were
an evil,
evil
monster to convert me the way you did!” She glared at him
for a minute before softening her gaze. “And well, yeah, today—what you did
earlier, helping me feed and letting me save face and all—yeah, that was kind
of cool of you. So I guess I kind of owe you, ya know? I mean, if saving your
life is that easy to do, then sure; why not?” She swallowed hard, her
expression betraying her underlying anxiety.

“Thank you,” Marquis said evenly, trying to be
noble. “But those are all the wrong reasons, Kristina—”

“Marquis! Stop!
Just stop
.”

He swallowed his words and waited.

“Don’t you see how hard I’m trying? Don’t you get
it?” She shook her head and dropped the handful of stones. “I’m all messed up
in the head to begin with...behind Dirk...and that ain’t gonna change any-time
soon. You and me, we have about as much in common as a polar bear and a giraffe—”

“A polar bear and a giraffe?” The words slipped
out. It was just…
gods
, where in the world did she get this stuff?

“Okay, a lion and a chimpanzee. Is that better?”

 “Uh, yeah—much better. Thanks for the
clarification.”
Good gods.

She huffed, indignant, but ignored the sarcasm. “And
you might not like the situation anymore than I do, but at least you’re not
scared all the time. And at least you’re not helpless.”

“You’re not—”

“Yes I am, Marquis!” She stomped her foot against
the ground and threw up her arms in exasperation. “Damn. Don’t treat me like
I’m stupid! Why do you always do that? Why do you have to take away every little
bit of control I might have? What do you want from me? For me to get down on my
knees and admit that you’re bigger, you’re stronger, you’re faster—and smarter—you
can kill me anytime you want? Well, fine, I said it!” She was shaking from head
to toe and struggling to make it stop. “At least let me say
when
. At
least let me say
how
. Why can’t you just let me do what I’m ready to do
while I still have the courage?” Her trembling stopped, and she steadied her
voice. “Maybe that’s my way of handling things: Did you ever think of that? Maybe
that’s just how I deal.” She parked her hands on her hips. “Maybe I want this
behind us because it’s like a dark freakin’ cloud hanging over my head, and
every day we wait, I just get more scared. And you just get more
powerful
.”

Despite his
lack of appreciation
for the
female, her words hit home.

“This time two weeks from now, I’ll be incapable,”
she added, sounding defeated. “And I won’t even care what the consequences are:
your life or mine. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. That’s just how messed up I
am. So I’m offering this to you
, now
.” She clenched her eyes shut. “At
least give me that much control, Marquis.”

Marquis studied Kristina carefully, and then he gently
probed her thoughts: She didn’t want him, not by a long shot, so what was it
she was after? Because this was about a lot more than fear. As he moved
silently through the recesses of her troubled mind, he saw the trepidation and
confusion she spoke of—and her determination to survive. But he also saw
something else.…

He saw a girl who had never felt safe a single day
in her life, not even when she was working at the casino under the protection
of the house of Jadon. Marquis frowned. They should have taken care of Dirk
much, much sooner. But her insecurity went deeper than that. There wasn’t a
single day in her hard, young life when she had felt
peace
. And that was
something he understood.

Very well.

Staring into her deep blue eyes, he knew they
would never share passion or Eros love. Theirs would be more of a
brother-sister, father-daughter relationship,
if
they even achieved that—and
how disgusting was that thought in light of what she was offering?

Marquis shook his head to clear his thoughts.

She couldn’t give him anything—because she had
absolutely nothing to give. But he could give her something. Not love, not
passion, not even eroticism, but safety, security, and
peace
. And wasn’t
there some way to make love that wasn’t about the ultimate, primal ecstasy—bite
and release—but more about those deeper, more meaningful things? If there was,
he needed to find it and harness it…just this once.

He sighed and held out his arm. “Kristina, come
here.”

As she hesitantly folded her body beneath his arm,
nestling against his much larger frame, he sent her a deep sensation of warmth
and security. He wrapped her from the inside out in a feeling of well-being, from
her heart to her soul, down to the very toes of her feet. And then he watched
as she let out a deep exhale—like someone who had been holding her breath since
the day she was born.

Gently running his hands through her hair, he
bathed her in unconscious images of safety and security, ensconcing her in a
thick cocoon of light.

Tears escaped her eyes as she nuzzled in closer
like a baby being held for the first time. It was as pitiful as it was sad, and
certainly not the appropriate time for a man to seek pleasure from a woman…but this
was what she had asked for. And Marquis did not see a deeper, more passionate
connection ever occurring between them. No. This was all they had to exchange.
She would give him twin sons, provide him with the requirements of the Blood
Curse, and ultimately save his life, and he would give her one night of safety and
security in exchange, with a promise to provide all of those things outside of
the bedroom for the rest of their lives.